Lai Mohammed, minister of information, has asked the Nigerian media to stop mocking the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Mohammed said this at the 68th General Assembly of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) in Abuja.
Declaring the event open, the minister said the media could criticise the government’s strategy of fighting corruption, but that it should not mock it.
“In recent times, it is not unusual to read such headlines as ‘Buhari’s government losing anti-corruption war’, ‘Buhari’s anti-corruption war is failing’, ‘Arewa youth knock President Buhari over failing anti-corruption war’. This is sheer mockery. And this war is not Buhari’s war. It is our war,” he said.
“After previous administrations spent billions of dollars on power, all we inherited – when we took over on the 29th of May 2015 – was 2,690 megawatts. That is due to corruption. After previous governments budgeted billions for roads over the years, what we inherited are death traps. That is due to corruption. Why did Boko Haram thrive for so long? The answer is corruption, because money meant for the purchase of weapons for the military were simply diverted. Why did we inherit an economy in dire straits? It is corruption. For a country that sold oil at over 100 dollars per barrel for years, we simply failed to save for the rainy day, and when the rain came, it beat us silly.”
Mohammed said while many Nigerians would be willing to join the government to tackle insecurity or to revamp the economy, not so many would be willing to take on corruption.
“Most Nigerians were direct beneficiaries of corruption. Many were subsidized by corruption. Now that the gravy train of corruption is fast derailing, many are finding it difficult to come to terms with it. That’s the origin of the ‘Bring Back Corruption’ campaign being carried out by certain elements in our society,” he added.
